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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Septembek, 1917 



ton public schools under charge of Prof. E. 

 P. West, superintendent, and by the ladies 

 of Wilmington.) Friday evening session, 

 7:30.— ''Wintering," Dr. E. F. Phillips, of 

 Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. ; 

 Question Box, E. R. Root, Medina. 



* * # 



Prof. E. R. King, of the New York State 

 College of Agriculture at Cornell Universi- 

 ty, is author of the Cornell Exliension Bulle- 

 tin on " How to Increase the Honey Sup- 

 ply." This is an excellent bulletin. In it 

 he estimates the actual number of colonies 

 in New York State to be more than 300,000. 



At the Virginia State Farmers' Institute, 

 held at Blacksburg on Aug. 16, the Virginia 

 Beekeepers' Association was organized, 

 with the following officers: President, T. P. 

 Asher, Brookneal; vice-president, Mr. 

 Coche, Danville; secretary. Prof. W. J. 

 Sehoene, Blacksburg. These officers and 

 Dr. W. H. Donigan, of Gratton, and E. C. 

 Spane, of Church Road, constitute the ex- 

 ecutive committee. There was much enthu- 

 siasm shown at the organization. Geo. S. 

 DeMuth, of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 Washington, D C, was present to demon- 

 strate. 



* * * 



The committee of the Western New York 

 Honey Producers' Association on Aug. 11 

 recommended that beekeepers sell their 1917 

 crop of honey for not less than the follow- 

 ing prices: White extracted — 60-lb. 5-gal. 

 can wholesale, 14c to 15c per lb., and retail, 

 $10 per can ; 10-lb. pail wholesale, $16.75 per 

 doz., and retail, $1.75 per pail; 5-lb. pail 

 wholesale, $9.00 ]>er doz., and retail, $1.00 

 l)er pail; 1-qt. jars, $6.00 per doz., and re- 

 tail, 05c a jar; 1-pt. jars wholesale, $3.25 

 per doz., and retail 35c per jar; 1-lb. jars 

 wholesale, $2.40 pei' doz., and retail, 25c per 

 jar; 6-()z. jars wholesale $1.15 per doz., and 

 retail, 13c each or 2 for 25c; bulk (no pack- 

 ages), 16c; amber or dark honey, 1 to 2c 

 ])er lb. less. Comb honey — fancy white, 

 $4-50 per 24 sections, 25e per section ; No. 1 

 white, $4.25 per 24 sections; 25c per sec- 

 tion; No. 2 white, $3.75 per 24 sections, 

 20c per section. 



* * * 



The Division of Farm Publications of the 

 Department of Agriculture at Washington 

 sends out the following under the headlire, 

 "Bee Kulfur for the Kaiser:" "Because so 

 much alfalfa was winter-killed in the Mid- 

 dle West the government has been urging 

 the farmers to try out Grimm alfalfa in that 

 section. Gleanings in Bee Culture sug- 



gests that alfalfa-growers who suffered 

 from Avinter-killing put in sweet clover, 

 stating that their excuse for butting in on 

 government advice is because sweet clover 

 is a great honey-plant. All right, Glean- 

 ings, we are for 'most anything that will 

 make the busy bee sting the Kaiser harder." 



* * * 



The Department of Agriculture of Ohio 

 in its report on the condition of crops of 

 date of August 1 estimates that the apple 

 crop of Ohio will be less than half a nor- 

 mal crop. Its estimate of the honey crop 

 is 57 per cent of a normal crop, and only 

 54 per cent of last year's crop. Even if it 

 were not for the under-production of honey 

 this year, it is said on the authority of good 

 beemen that honey prices are always higher 

 when the apple crop is short. There do not 

 seem to be many factors lacking to boost the 

 price of honey this year. 



* * ■* 



Mr. L. W. Randall, writing from Nor- 

 wood, Soutli Australia, says that beekeeping 

 in that country is still in its infancy, altho 

 there are about 30,000 colonies in that state. 

 The climate is very similar to that of Cali- 

 fornia, and tlie main source of the honey- 

 How is eucalyptus. The winters are extreme- 

 ly mild. Three months of the year are cold 

 and wet; but even during that period there 

 are bright sunny days which allow the bees 

 to have a good cleansing flight. South 

 Australia, as Mr. Randall says, seems to be 

 an ideal place for beekeeping. 



* * * 



The all-day summer meeting of the Penn- 

 sylvania Beekeepers' Association held at 

 the apiary of L. K. Hostetter, near Lan- 

 caster, on Aug. 16, proved a great success. 

 It was the largest tield meeting this asso- 

 ciation has ever held, about 125 persons be- 

 ing present. Prof. H. A. Surface (former 

 state economic zoologist) and wife were 

 jn'esent and took part in the program. The 

 Hostetter families extended most generous 

 hospitality to the beekeepers present. The 

 annual meeting of the State Association will 

 be held at Lancaster next Januarv. 



Our readers in Western Ohio, AVestern 

 New York, and Indiana will be saddened to 

 learn of the very sudden death of G. A. 

 Offineer on Aug. 12. For some years he has 

 acted as honey-buyer for The A. I. Root Co. 

 in the localities mentioned. It will be hard 

 to replace him, as he had in an unusual de- 

 gree the confidence of both his employers 

 and the beekeepers, realizing that their in- 

 terests were identical. We shall miss him 



